False Accusations and Wrongful Convictions: How Lives Can So Easily Be Ruined

The mainstream media is in the habit of assuming guilt upon suspicion, let alone charge: that a person suspected of a criminal offence is likely to be guilty and, if charged by police, must be guilty – that where there's smoke, there's fire.

But the fact of the matter is countless lives have been ruined by sensationalised misrepresentations by the media, police and even politicians – a narrative that assumes guilt and one which, when presented, can be impossible to erase despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary and the fact a person of interest or suspect is never charged, or are put through the ordeal of criminal prosecution and ultimately have their charged withdrawn or dismissed in court.